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F(x)
f(x) (/ˌɛf ˈɛks/; Korean: 에프엑스) is a multi-national K-pop girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2009. Initially debuting as a five-member group, the group is currently composed of four members: Victoria, Amber, Luna, and Krystal. Former member Sulli left the group to pursue her acting career. They have been recognized as "the most reliably risk-taking act in K-Pop" due to their experimental fashion and their eclectic, electropop sound. Each member has also participated in other forms of entertainment, such as acting and television hosting. f(x) is one of the few K-Pop groups to receive international recognition, as they were the first K-Pop act to perform at SXSW and their widely acclaimed second album, Pink Tape, was the only K-Pop album chosen by the American music channel Fuse to be among the "The 41 Best Albums" of 2013. Members * Victoria * Amber * Luna * Sulli (Former) * Krystal History Casting and pre-debut Krystal was first spotted by S.M. Entertainment in 2000 on a family visit to Korea, which earned her a small role in Shinhwa's "Wedding March (Neoui Gyeoteseo 2)" (너의 곁에서 2) music video. Sulli debuted as a child actress in 2005 when she was selected to play young Princess Seonhwa of Silla in the SBS television drama, Ballad of Seodong. In 2006, the agency recruited Luna after seeing her perform on the television program Truth Game. Victoria was spotted by one of S.M. Entertainment's agents at a Beijing dance competition in September 2007, and later joined the company. Two months later, Amber was cast through S.M. Global Auditions in Los Angeles, California, where she signed a contract to become one of two trainees. 2009–2011: NU ABO and Pinocchio f(x) was introduced, as the "Asia's Pop Dance Group", through a video teaser released on August 24, 2009. Their debut single, "LA chA TA", was released on September 1. On September 2, the group performed for the first time at a showcase held at the Samseong-dong Fashion Center. Then on September 5, they also had their first broadcast performance on the MBC's music show Music Core. In October, f(x) promoted the LG Chocolate cellphone alongside label mates Girls' Generation. Both groups released their own rendition of the song "Chocolate Love", with f(x)'s being an electro-pop version on October 8. Their first physical single, "Chu~♥", was released on November 9. A month later, the group appeared as special guests at Girls' Generation's Into the New World concert held at the Olympic Fencing Gymnasium on December 19 and 20. In January 2010, f(x) collaborated with Chinese boy band M.I.C. to promote the LG Cyon cellphone. They released a Chinese cover of "Lollipop", written by Julius Dixson and Beverly Ross, on January 2. Subsequently, their first extended play, Nu ABO, was released on May 4. Consisting of six tracks, the lead single "Nu ABO" topped various online music portal charts in Korea, and also become one of the Gaon Chart's weekly number-one singles.needed The group held their first performance of the song on KBS's Music Bank on May 7. Amber went on hiatus in June due to an ankle injury, with remaining group activities of the year carried out without her. The group began performing "Mr. Boogie", from Nu ABO, on music shows starting on July 17. f(x) participated in the SMTown Live '10 World Tour on August 21 at the Seoul Jamsil Olympic Stadium. They also performed in Tokyo, Shanghai, Los Angeles, and Paris on later dates. This marks the first time f(x) and their fellow label mates have performed outside of Asia. f(x) was later announced to have been signed to Japan's Avex Entertainment, and their albums will be released under the label in Japan, Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong. In early 2011, member Amber returned to the group from her hiatus. Their full-length studio album Pinocchio, along with its lead single, "Pinocchio (Danger)", was released on April 20. The group held their first performance of the single on KBS's Music Bank on April 22 and achieved eight wins with "Pinocchio (Danger)" on various music shows.needed They subsequently re-released their first full-length album on June 14 under the title Hot Summer. The album came with eleven original songs including, "Hot Summer", a remake of a Monrose song written by Thomas Troelsen and Remee, as well as three previous digital singles "La Cha Ta", "Chu~♥" and "Is It Ok?". In August 2011, f(x) released an OST song called "Garagabana" for the online game Bust-a-Move, and in December, they released an English song entitled "1, 2, 3" as part of the 2011 Winter SMTown – The Warmest Gift album. 2012–2013: Electric Shock, Japanese debut, and Pink Tape f(x) released their second EP titled Electric Shock on June 10, 2012. On Jun 14, the group began promotions for the album, starting on Mnet's M! Countdown. They performed both the title track "Electric Shock" and another song "Jet" as a part of their special comeback stage. The group eventually achieved 9 wins on various music shows. Subsequently, f(x) debuted in Japan by releasing a Japanese remake of "Hot Summer" on September 12, 2015, as their 1st Japanese digital single. The song was also selected as the commercial background song for Uminoie Resort. On November 30, f(x) received the "Best Dance Performance - Female Group" award for "Electric Shock" at the 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong. Upon its release, the EP received widespread acclaim from South Korean critics, many commending its cohesive production and f(x)'s newfound sonic direction. In January 2013, the songs "Electric Shock" and "Jet" were both nominated for "Best Dance" and "Electronic Song" at the 10th Annual Korean Music Awards. In regards to the two songs being nominated in the same category, a representative of the KMAs stated, "This is due to the corresponding songs having excellent music reviews and rather than disregarding them because it is from the same artist, we chose to recognize their excellence". In March, f(x) became the first K-pop artist to perform at the SXSW, a festival held annually in Austin, Texas. The group were being listed by Fuse as one of the "30 Must-See Acts" at the event." During this trip to the U.S., they also filmed a Funny or Die sketch with Anna Kendrick. These events were documented and shown in the variety show Go f(x). Later in the year, f(x) performed at the Hong Kong Dome Festival on July 1. On July 29, the group's second full-length album Pink Tape was released. Their showcase, f(x) Music Spoiler - Play! Pink Tape, was held through Naver Music on the same day. The album consisted of twelve tracks, with "Rum Pum Pum Pum" as the lead single. It peaked at number one on multiple music charts internationally, including Billboard's World Albums, Gaon. It also received critical acclaim, most notably being described as "experimental, steeped in quirky, boundary-pushing electronic sounds with woozy harmonies", and became the only Kpop album released in 2013 to be ranked as "The 41 Best Albums of 2013", by Fuse. f(x) began promotions for the album starting with M! Countdown on July 25. Besides the lead single, f(x) also performed "Airplane" as a special stage on M! Countdown and Show Champion. "Rum Pum Pum Pum" achieved four wins on various music shows, The song also ranked #3 on billboard's "20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2013". At the end of the year, f(x) and EXO held two joint concerts together, titled SMTOWN WEEK f(x) & EXO Christmas Wonderland, at KINTEX and Ilsan on December 24 and 25. f(x) showcased the group's previous hit songs and new tracks from the 2nd album "Pink Tape", including "Step" and "No More" as well as several other special performances with EXO. During various Chinese variety shows, f(x) has covered a popular classic Chinese song by Teresa Teng "Tian Mi Mi", singing their version in three different languages, Korean, Chinese, and English. 2014–present: Red Light, Summer Special, and Sulli's Departure In early 2014, f(x) won the "Group Artist" award at 20th Korean Entertainment Arts Awards, "Disk Bonsang" at the 28th Golden Disk Awards, as well as "Best Overseas Artist Performance" at Yin Yue Feng Yun Bang Awards held in China. During the Golden Disk Awards ceremony, Krystal, Luna and Amber did a cover of Girls' Generation's "The Boys". f(x)'s third studio album Red Light was released on July 7, 2014. "Red Light" is of the electronic house genre with the meaningful message of if one stops for a bit, then one can enjoy the precious things in life. The album experiments with different sounds and has a total of eleven tracks. In regard to some mixed reviews regarding the album's dark and eerie concept, f(x) discussed that they themselves like new challenges and don’t think of this comeback as “tough.” Krystal further added that she likes this current concept because a lot of times she’s given roles that make her look pretty, but just this once she wanted something that would make her look darker and different. Fuse TV described the group as K-Pop's top hipsters, with their "Red Light" music video reaching more than 2 million views on YouTube on first day. The music video was also ranked as the most viewed K-pop videos in America and around the world during the month of July.During August, Pitchfork listed "Shadow", "Rum Pum Pum Pum", and "Red Light" as part of the best 20 essential K-pop songs in recent years. On July 17, f(x) performed on MNet's M!Countdown without Sulli, with SM Entertainment saying that Sulli was sick and thus was unable to perform. However, when Sulli did not appear in the next few Red Light promotions and f(x)'s Korean promotion schedule was abruptly cleared for the rest of the month, it led to speculation that Sulli would be leaving the group (or that the group itself would be disbanding). On July 24, 2014 SM Entertainment posted an official statement on the group's homepage, stating that due to Sulli becoming "mentally and physically exhausted from the continuous, malicious comments and false rumors" that has been spread about her in the past year, she is now taking a temporary hiatus from the entertainment industry, though she still remains a member of the group. The remaining members would now focus on their solo activities and continue any group activities without Sulli for the time being. In 2015, The group's first physical Japanese single Summer Special Pinocchio / Hot Summer, was released on July 22, 2015. It includes both "Hot Summer" and "Pinocchio", and also contains a bonus DVD containing the music videos of both songs. At the event held in Osaka, for the release of the single, only Krystal, Luna and Amber were present. Victoria was absent due to her health and her activities in China as well as a movie filming in England and Sulli has still not returned from her break. On August 7, it was announced that Sulli had officially withdrawn from the group to focus on an acting career, and that the group will continue to promote as four members with SM managing Sulli's acting endeavors. On August 9, the group held their first official stage as a 4-member group at the " 2015 London Korean Film Festival: Imagine Your Korea" event, giving a free performance at Trafalgar Square to celebrate the festival. On August 13, SM Entertainment confirmed that f(x) is planning to release their fourth studio album (and first as a 4-member group), with a comeback to promote the album scheduled for October. Discography Albums Repackage Mini Albums Singles Tours * Join tours SMTOWN Live '10 World Tour (2010-2011) SMTOWN Live World Tour III (2012-2013) SMTOWN Live World Tour IV (2014–present) * Residency shows SMTOWN Week: "Christmas Wonderland" (with EXO) (2013) * Supporting act Girls' Generation The 1st Asia Tour: Into the New World Super Junior The 3rd Asia Tour: Super Show 3 SHINee The 1st Concert: Shinee World Super Junior The World Tour: Super Show 4 K-Pop Night Out at SXSW Filmography 2012: I AM. of SM Town Live '10 World Tour at Madison Square Garden Themselves. 2012: SM Town Live in Tokyo Special Edition in 3D of SM Town Live World Tour III at Tokyo. 2015: SMTOWN THE STAGE of SM Town Live World Tour 4 at Tokyo. Television Series 2010: Hello f(x) travel to Africa, Thailand, and Japan. 2010–11: f(x)'s Koala didn't participate in the series due to an ankle injury. 2013: Amazing f(x) travel to New Zealand to complete their bucket lists. 2013: Go! f(x) show highlights f(x)'s trip to Austin, LA, and Hollywood Awards and Nominations